ABSTRACT
The chapter begins by defining two key terms—anti-pacting and party ostracism—and explaining their relationship to other concepts in the growing literature on mainstream party response to extremism. Although anti-pacts versus the radical right are not unique to Germany, the case is exceptional in that it combines anti-pacting of parties with a ‘militant democracy.’ For over seventy years, the German state and the mainstream parties were effective in undercutting various waves of far-right political mobilization. The question, of course, is what the future holds. The recent sanctioning of subnational renegades and the repeated broadcasting of the anti-pacting norm represent a continuation of a familiar dynamic. The end result of recent instances of attempted cooperation with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) was the same: a reversal of course and sanctions for violators of the anti-pacting norm. Historically, ‘taming’ has not worked as a strategic response to extremist challengers. Those who thought that Trump might be democratized through government experience have repeatedly been forced to admit their error, and the horror of the Capital Insurrection has made some Americans wish their democracy were a little more German, a little more militant.
